Gideon’s reply reveals that his motivation for crossing the Jordan with his men (Judges 8:4) and pursuing the remaining Midianite warriors was not for the honour of God or out of a concern for Israel’s safety, but for personal vengeance; the blood of his brothers was crying out to him from the ground. So he has a personal score to settle with these two kings, and he was quite prepared to take out whoever got in his way.
19 And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the LORD lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.”